What Really Happened in Ninjago: Origins
by Skyla Talon
Summary: Ninjago is a great show...except that somethings don't make sense. This, this is what really happened in Ninjago... permission to question their sanity! AU! Please wait to question their sanity until after Lloyd's arrival! Warning: Chapter 8 has a sad ending! This is just the Origins, just so you know.
1. Kai's Origin Story

Kai's origin story _:_

 _ **He was two when he became a big brother. He was five when he became the man of the house and CEO of the family store. He was still five when he realized that no one wanted to buy anything made by a five year old, and thus this really wasn't working out…**_

The auburn haired fiver year old boy stood on tiptoe to flip the open sign over to close. The blacksmith shop was a disaster zone, metal parts all over the place, a three year old girl with black hair sitting in the middle of the floor. Stepping off of the footstool, he dragged the three legged footstool back to the backroom. Turning around again, he walked over to his baby sister, grabbing her by the grubby hand. "Marcher! Here boy!" He attempted to whistle, failing miserably.

A loud bark filled the air, before a mostly pitch black, his front paws and the tip of his tail were a medium brown color, dog that was taller than the boy came charging into the room. Skidding to a halt, his long pink tongue darted out, licking the two small children. Squealing, the boy tried to push the dog away. "Gross! Marcher! Down boy! Come on Nya…we need to pack. We can't stay here cause we're not making any money for stuff." The boy helped his sister up and led her to the upstairs bedroom.

Marcher bounded up the stairs behind them, his tongue lolling out. Sitting at the edge of the top step, which looked into the attic bedroom, Marcher watched as the boy dragged out his missing father's backpack he used for long hikes. "Ok… get your dollies and put them in here, sissy." He unzipped the backpack, a grin on his face, pleased with his plan to help them survive.

Marcher tilted his head in confusion, panting as he watched him walk around the room, grabbing clothes, blankets and pillows. As well as picture books and a toy sword. A frown crossed his tiny face as he shoved their jackets, winter coats, sweaters, pants, Nya's dresses, skirts, shorts, shirts, blouses, all of their blankets, pillows, his toy soldiers and dragons…and everything else that was in the room. Marcher shook his head, before walking over and shoving his snout into the bag, pulling out several blankets that didn't quite fit into the bag…and weren't the special ones that their mother had sewn herself for them.

Clapping his hands together, the boy petted the dog on the top of his head. "Good job Marcher! We won't take everything with us, just the stuff that can fit…Nya's diapers! Those got to fit! She ain't potty trained yet!" The boy scrambled off, pulling a drawer open to reveal a good, three month supply of diapers. Scooping them out of the drawer, he carried the diapers to the backpack and shoved them in as hard as he could. "Nya! Do you have all of your dollies in here?"

"Uh uh." Nya shook her head fiercely, as she held tightly to a doll about the same size has her that was wearing a red silk kimono, short course hair framing the scratched up porcelain face.

The boy frowned as he looked at the doll. "Isn't that 'A'ole? Mommy's old doll that she gave to you?"

Nodding her head in confirmation, the little girl hugged the doll tightly against her chest. "Me miss Momma."

A sigh escaped the boy as he walked over to hug her tightly. "I miss Mommy too. And Daddy. But the a-duels said that they ain't comin' back. I'm sure that they didn't mean to forget us…" Marcher leapt up suddenly, slobbering all over the boy's face. Laughing, he pushed the big dog down. "Or Marcher. Now help me drag this back down to the kitchen."

Several minutes later, Marcher was hovering behind the two kids as the boy stopped to catch his breath, panting from his excursion to get the heavy bag down the steps. "Ok…new plan. We get the sled out!"

Marcher pointed his ears forward, excitement dancing in his eyes. _Sled_ was one of his favorite words, since it meant snow and the boy laughing when they go fast! Tail wagging fast, he bounded into the open garage door. The boy had already pulled the sled off of the wall and was pushing the backpack onto it. Patting the open seat behind the heavy bag, he turned to face his little sister. "Come here sissy…you and 'A'ole can ride with our stuff."

Nya climbed onto the sled, still clutching the priceless doll in her tiny arms. "Ok…Kai'i."

"Kai." He quickly corrected his little sister, before pulling out the old leaky tent that was set to the side to be thrown out. Tossing it onto the sled, he climbed up onto sled, sitting on top of the old tent. "Ok…now we have something to sit on. Umm… I better start pulling us out of the garage." Climbing back down, he walked over to the front of the sled and grabbed the heavy duty rope at the front.

Turning to face the wide open driveway…and the late summer evening sky, he began walking out the door. Marcher by his side, tail a waggin', while the sled slowly inched forward. By the time that Kai reached the bottom of the short hill that they lived on top off, his arms were burning from the extrusion and he was covered in sweat. Dropping the rope onto the ground, he went back to the old tent and sat down on it again. "This is impossible! The sled is too heavy for me to pull!" As he whined about the difficulty that was his life, Marcher walked over and stepped into the rope so that it was surrounding him. Kai frowned as he looked up noticing this for the first time. "Marcher? Whatcha doin' boy?"

Marcher gave him a look, a loud bark escaping him again… right before he bent down and grabbed the rope into his mouth. Kai snapped his fingers, excitement dancing in his eyes. "That's right! Daddy taught you to pull the sled whenever I want to go sledding! Good boy Marcher! You pull the sled into those woods over there that Mommy has forbidden has to go into, while Nya and I will eat the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches that I made for dinner." Kai pulled out the squashed sandwiches out of his pocket. "Marcher, march!"

Gripping the rope with his teeth, Marcher took off into the general direction of the woods… while the two kids hungrily ate the sandwiches for their dinner. Nya lifted a sticky hand up and smoothed out her doll's hair, keeping it out of her face as she ate.

Kai shifted slightly, unzipping the backpack and digging out their blankets to wrap themselves in. "We don't want to get too cold out here. Daddy says that's bad for our heath."

Nya smiled as she wrapped the ocean blue blanket with her name stitched into around her tightly.

…

Marcher kept his ears flicked up, eyes alert for danger as he slowly neared the woods. Sniffing the air, he crept forward, noting the different scents in the air. A loud yawn alerted him that his young charges were falling asleep as he moved through the dark woods. Turning his head, he spotted Nya curled up under her special blanket, sound asleep. Kai had slid off of the tent was rubbing sleep out of his eyes as he snuggled deeper into his special blanket. His toy wooden sword sticking out from under the bundle of blankets and sleepy bodies. Turning his attention back to where he was going, he wove his way through the under bush, looking for someplace that would be perfect for a campsite.

 **A/N: Hello! So, Stormy and I were talking the other day and this was born. The first six chapters will be taking place roughly in order; some of the things will be at the same time. Also, I hope you all enjoy it!**

 **Next chapter will be Zane's origin story. Lloyd's origin story will be a two partner… I think. We will see when we get there.**

 **Review!**

 **SkyTalon**


	2. Zane's Origin Story

Zane's Origin Story:

 **He woke up in the middle of Birchwood Forest with no memories. After spending months traveling through the land, he met them. They gave him purpose in life…**

A tall teen with stiff, snowy blonde hair, pale skin, and icy blue eyes, slipped silently through the woods, his eyes trained on the small village on his left. Stopping, he stared at a hill that appeared to have a disheveled family owned shop on top of it. A sigh escaped him as he leaned against a tree. "I wonder what my family is like? Would I have any siblings….or am I an only child? And I'm talking to myself again." He shook his head wryly, as if that was amusing to him. Glancing around the slowly darkening area, he spotted a falcon resting on a branch near him. "Everywhere I go; there is always one of your majestic species nearby. I am very lucky in that regard."

The falcon screeched loudly suddenly, snapping its head up to stare at something in the village. Confused, the teen turned around to look at the village once again…this time noticing something moving out of the store on the top of the hill. Even as he watched, whatever it was started heading straight his way. Not wanting to get caught again, he still had nightmares about last time, he shrunk into the shadows, holding his breath. A minute later, a large mostly pitch black with some splotches of medium brown dog came into view, dragging a winter sled behind him. Two small children sat on the sled, nibbling at a couple of sandwiches.

Concerned at the fact they had stuff with them indicating they weren't planning on coming back anytime soon, he silently followed them at a distance. He could pick up on the fact that the bigger of the two kids was talking to the smaller one about something as he pulled out a couple of blankets while they ate. Settling back down, they finished eating their sandwiches. After awhile the smaller one fell asleep, even as the bigger kid slipped down, wrapping his blanket tightly around him. The teen noted the long shadows that the woods were casting, and the fact the temperature was rapidly dropping. Knowing he needed to stop for the night soon, he began glancing around for a good campsite. Up ahead, the dog was doing the exact same thing.

Deciding he better separate himself from the children, he took one small step back…and cringed as the loud snap of a branch breaking filled the air. The dog stopped pulling the sled, a growl escaping its throat. The teen froze, even as the bigger kid bolted upright, grabbing something off of the sled. Climbing out of the sled, the child, who the teen could now see was a boy of about five years of age, looked around his surroundings warily as he slowly moved away from the sled.

Alarmed, and not really wanting a wild animal to find the other one alone, Zane stepped into a patch of moonlight for the child to see him. "I would not advise leaving your companion alone."

A startled yelp escaped the boy as he promptly shoved what it was he was holding into his face. "Stay back!"

The teen arched one of his eyebrows upwards in surprise, before looking at the young boy. "That would be a toy sword…made out of…oak."

The boy wrinkled his nose in annoyance, lowering the toy wooden sword fractionally. "Who you?"

"The correct way to ask that question is who are you. I am Zane." Zane pressed his fingers together, then turned them inward so as to point at himself.

The boy frowned, lowering his toy sword once more. "You sound like a robot."

Zane frowned at that, no one had told him he sounded like a robot before, before shaking his head ruefully at the child. "I told you my name. It only makes sense for you to tell me yours."

"My name's Kai Garmadon Wu Smith! Nice to meet you Zane." The now named Kai stuck his free hand out, dropping his toy sword to his side all the way now.

Zane accepted the handshake, amazed that he didn't question anything. Tilting his head to the side, Kai nodded to the sled. "That's my baby sissy; her name is Nya Maya Misako Smith. And that's Daddy's dog, Marcher."

Zane nodded in understanding as he held his hand out to the still growling softly dog. "Does your father know you're out here?"

Kai's shoulders slumped forward as he shuffled his feet. "That's the problem. Daddy and Mommy are missing. No one comes to the shop anymore, and we're running out of food."

"So, you're running away from all your problems." Zane concluded as he looked calmly at the young boy.

Kai scoffed loudly, folding his arms against the frigid night air. "No…I'm gettin' a better life for us."

Zane sighed as he rubbed is face. "You are doing so by running away. Do you want me to help you set up the tent?"

Kai shook his head, clearly more confused now than he was earlier. "I'm using it as a seat. Why do you want me to set it up?"

Zane felt his left eye twitch with annoyance as he stood up. "Nothing…just thought you would like some shelter for the night. You'll stay warmer inside of the tent than outside it."

"Daddy always whined that the tent leaks and needs thrown out." Kai stubbornly informed Zane.

Zane looked to the now pitch dark night sky, only the sliver of moon and twinkling stars providing light for them to see by. "Ok…how about this. I help you set it up for tonight; then when we get to the next village I'll buy you a new one. Do we have a deal?"

Kai carefully thought it over, patting Marcher on the side. Zane felt his stomach clench as he realized that the dog went past his own hip, stopping at mid-stomach. Kai finally nodded in agreement. A smile crossing his face. "You have a deal! Um, do you know how to make breakfast?"

Zane sighed as he walked over and scooped the tent up into his arms. "How about I stay with you until your older?"

A loud gasp escaped Kai as he followed Zane around. "Like a big brother? I always wanted one of those but Mommy and Daddy got me first. Say, did you know that I was named after Daddy's best friend and his older brother? And Nya is named after Mommy and her best friend. Can I help!?" The last part was in Zane's ear as he sorted through the jumbled mess in the tent's bag.

Zane gritted his teeth together as he turned to face Kai. "Why yes…can you help Marcher bring the sled over here? That would be a big help for me."

"You got it, big brother!" Kai ran off, Marcher hard on his heels.

Zane shook his head at the energy that boy had, before turning back to the tent. A few minutes later, he had the tent set up and noticed why it leaked. The flysheet was missing…and the instructions mentioned that it was supposed to have one. Zane amusedly noted this, filing it away for later. Turning around, he found Kai standing in his space, his face inches from Zane's own. Marcher panted loudly as he stood at attention with the sled's rope in his mouth. Nya was still asleep. Reaching back, he unzipped the tent door, pulling it up for Kai. "Into bed you go. I'll stay out and keep watch. I'm sure Marcher would love to sleep with you…" Zane wasn't entirely sure if Marcher was allowed into bedrooms or not.

"God idea. Marcher does love to sleep in our room, instead of with Mommy and Daddy like he's supposed to." Kai nodded in agreement, before climbing into the tent.

Zane carefully scooped Nya and her blanket up, before ducking into the tent. Laying her down next to the dog, who was already completely out of it, he smoothed out her blanket. "Goodnight Kai, Nya."

"Night Zane, big brother." Kai yawned loudly as he succumbed to his exhaustion.

Zane ducked back outside, zipping the tent shut behind him to keep the bugs and cold air out. Settling down, he prepared himself for several hours of mediation.

 **A/N: Done! They'll survive fine…they have Zane with them now. Next chapter is…ooh Cole! I am trying to go with the whole still has amnesia, humor switch off, Zane in this chapter. Did I succeed?**

 **Review!**

 **SkyTalon**


	3. Trip into Town

Trip into Town

Zane frowned as he carefully organized the jumbled mess that fell out of the backpack that was his new companions' belongings. A sigh escaped him as he realized that the only source of food that they had with them was one partially filled water bottle, and a Sippy-cup that had some lukewarm water inside of it. Zane knew that he only had four granola bars and a few handfuls of nuts himself. Not enough for him and two still growing kids. He carefully folded the clothes, rolling them tight so as to save room. Setting two outfits to the side, he then turned his attention to the entertainment part of the pack. There were about ten different dolls, not including the one that Nya was currently sleeping with, and a hundred different doll outfits. Kai also had packed twenty different toy dragons and one hundred toy soldiers. Zane made a silent note that Kai also had the wooden toy sword, which he was still holding tightly when he went to bed the night before. Zane furrowed his brow in farther worry upon noticing the collection of clean diapers. Apparently the girl was not potty trained yet, and Zane suspected that was going to fall on him.

"Whatcha doin' big brother?" Kai's cheerful voice filled the air as he materialized next to the solemn teen.

Zane picked up the outfit he pulled out for Kai and handed it to the lad. "Here. Go get dress. I'm just looking to see what we need to get at town." Noticing that there were a few picture books in the pile, a wry smile crossed his face. "Maybe while we're at it, I'll buy some preschool and kindergarten lesson plan books and class supplies. We really shouldn't let you fall behind in lessons."

Kai wrinkled his nose, clearly displeased with the idea of doing school. "That sounds boring big brother."

Zane sighed as he vaguely wondered if Kai will ever stop calling him that. "I know, but it will look pretty bad if you fall behind the learning curve. I am sure I can find a way to make it fun."

Kai nodded silently, before running off to change into his clothes. Zane grimaced as he realized that was another thing he needed to be prepared for. He had to be ready to do laundry in the middle of the woods, just in case. Noting that he was going to need laundry bar soap, and a few other things that were used to do laundry before the washing machine was invited, he shook his head as he packed everything back up, minus the outfit for Nya.

Stretching, he picked Nya's outfit up and walked over to the tent. Apparently Nya was awake and playing with her doll. Upon seeing him, she froze, clutching the doll to her chest. Zane held the clean outfit up for her to see. "It's ok. I am only going to help you change into a clean outfit."

The little girl still seemed uncertain about Zane, but she did come over to climb into his lap. Settling into his lap, she shoved her doll into his face. "This 'A'ole. She Momma's."

Zane blinked as his mind tried to understand what she was apparently telling him. Finally it clicked. The doll used to belong to her mother. Gingerly, he removed the doll from her hands so as to change her outfit…and diaper if that smell was anything to go by.

…

Zane paused to look over the small village that they had barely stumbled upon. Marcher was obediently staying by Zane's side, while Kai kept a firm hand on the sled's rope. Kai was now wearing a simple red t-shirt with a campfire on it, and worn out jeans. Nya was wearing a rather cute, ocean blue play dress, that had seashells printed along the edges. Letting go of the sled, Zane readjusted how Nya was resting on his hip. "Kai, Marcher stays here with your stuff to make sure that no one steals it. And I want you to stay near me at all times. Am I understood?"

Kai nodded fervently as he dropped the rope as well, still clutching his wooden toy sword. "Marcher, stay here."

Marcher looked at the five year old for five seconds, before sitting down, tail thumping. Zane nodded in appreciation, before reaching for Kai's hand. Kai grabbed it with his free hand, before taking off walking. Zane reviewed what it was he needed to tell people if they asked about the two small children with him.

Entering the village, everything looked good as Zane walked over to a vendor stand that had camping supplies set out around it. "Excuse me? But our tent is missing its flysheet and doesn't keep the rain out like it's supposed to."

A bored looking young man with an ugly mole on his face gestured to the pile of tents on his left. "Pick one. I'll tell you the price once I see which one you want."

Zane shook his head at the obvious lack of interest that the lad had, before moving to look at the tents. He was examining a big silvery white tent when an old lady that walked with a cane approached him.

"Excuse me young man, but I was wondering why you're lookin' at tents with these younguns?" She politely asked as she nodded her head to the young siblings.

Zane kept his face straight as he straightened his back so as to properly look at her. "I am taking my younger siblings out on a camping trip, but our tent is missing a vital part. We are looking to replace it."

Nya shied away from the lady, clutching 'A'ole all the tighter as she stepped behind Zane's leg. Kai, who appeared to never have heard of stranger danger, meanwhile bounced on his feet. "I've never been to an actual camp before. Mommy and Daddy usually just set the tent up in the backyard and called it camping."

"Kai…stranger danger? Ever heard of it?" Zane drily asked as he wondered if he needed to teach Kai that bit of common sense.

"Mommy says it all the time." Kai proudly announced.

Zane rolled his eyes, exasperation filling him. "Do you know what it means?"

"It means to be careful around strangers. Why you ask, big brother?" Kai was still bouncing with excitement.

Zane made a mental note to go over what being careful around strangers really implied later with the young lad. "Never mind." Turning back to the tents, Zane looked over his options, trying to decide which one was best for the three of them. Particularly since it needed to survive two of them growing into hopefully respectable young adults.

The old lady leaned over and seized a tent bag and yanked it out. "Here. Take this one. It's free."

"Grandma! Since when did you give the wares away for free?" The salesperson that Zane talked to earlier cried out in surprise, annoyance flashing in his eyes.

The old lady planted a hand on her hip, annoyance flaring in her very posture. "Since a young man decides to give his parents a break! Honestly, I don't see _you_ helping with your little siblings. He deserves a break. In fact, I want you to outfit them with our best camping supplies. And you better not charge them anything for it!" She then hobbled off to a nearby rocking chair, sitting down in it.

Three hours later, Zane had sold the old tent, was paid to pull weeds out of someone's garden, and was standing in line at the grocery store, a pile of new camping supplies sitting next to Marcher. Zane glanced down at the cart to see that Nya had fallen asleep, her doll still wrapped tightly in her arms. Kai tugged on Zane's sleeve, signaling him to the fact that the line had moved forward. Walking calmly, he approached the checkout station.

The cashier arched his eyebrows at the sight of the variety of things that he had picked up. A training potty, various foods, enough to last awhile Zane hoped, and of course, the school things he had mentioned. He also had two small collapsible tables with matching chairs. Zane pulled out his money bag, biting his bottom lip as he watched as the part-time worker scanned each item. Finally the worker looked up at him. "That would be one hundred dollars and seventy-five cents please."

Zane quickly poured out all his money, carefully saved up from the last six villages he had been in plus this one, onto the table. Annoyance flared in the employee's eyes briefly, before he painstakingly counted out the money. Finally, he swept all of it minus three pennies into the cash register, handing the three pennies back to him. "Here you go sir."

"Thank you." Zane left the line, glad that everything worked out…and that he had a brand new ice chest filled with bags of ice to keep the produce cold.

…

Kai tossed the large ball that the nice lady had given him to Marcher, who happily chased after it. Zane had moved back a ways into the woods before setting up their new tent. It was a bright blue and green, and it had a collapsible wall in the middle so as to split it up into two rooms. He had unrolled the bright pink sleeping that they were given for Nya and laid her down on top of it to finish her nap. The cooler was propped next to the sled, all of their food already carefully organized inside of it. Zane stirred the pot of soup he was attempting to make as he watched Kai out of the corner of his eye. A cookbook was propped up next to him, open to the page with the recipe he was attempting.

Marcher came trotting back into the camp, carrying the ball in his mouth as if it weren't too big. Dropping it in front of Kai, he sat down panting as he waited for Kai to throw it again. Zane mused to himself that this actually felt nice…

 **A/N: Done! Sorry, I know I said that this chapter would be Cole, but I realized that I could make an entire chapter about them going to that first village together. I will do Cole! He is an important member of the team.**

 **Review!**

 **SkyTalon**


	4. Cole's origin story

Cole's origin story:

 _ **He was only three when his mother passed away. He was seven when he fell on his face doing a complicated dance move. He was still seven when he decided that dance wasn't for him…and his father sent him to a dance academy. He stayed there three days before he ran away. It was when he was eight that he found a real friend in someone…**_

A small, skinny, eight year old boy scrambled for a foothold as he tried to keep up with the rest of the mountain climbers, all of whom were adults and professionals. Sweat beaded down his face, forcing him to let go with one hand to wipe it out of his dark chocolate brown eyes. Floppy, stringy pitch black hair waved around in the gentle breeze, in a bad need for a wash. His holey, too tight clothes were covered in dust and grim, and smelled terrible, as if he never once washed them in the past year. Scrambling onto the small edge that overlooked the steep drop back down to the bottom of the mountain, he dropped down exhausted and weak onto it.

Panting he ignored his grumbling stomach, having gotten used to going hungry. Curling into himself, he steadied his breathing. His bony fingers shook as he ran them through his matted hair, attempting to detangle the greasy mess. Gulping in some much needed air, he placed his bony chin on top of his bony knees. After a few minutes just catching his breath, he heard a faint cracking sound. Confused, he slowly sat up, looking around to see if he couldn't find the source of the sound…when the small cliff suddenly gave way.

A screech escaped him as he flung his arms around frantically, trying to get a hold of any _thing_ that could slow his fall down. He eventually seized a hold of a good sized handhold that he had used earlier. He bit his bottom lip out of worry upon seeing that his fingers were slipping… he closed his eyes, his heart pounding loudly in his small chest. He dug his long, unkempt nails into the handhold, in a poor attempt to stop himself from falling.

Next thing he knew, he was waking up, his entire body aching from the fall, inside of a tent. He was lying on top of an off-white sleeping bag, a large black and brown dog staring at him from the tent entrance, which was open. Stifling a groan, he pushed himself upright stiffly, noticing that someone had wrapped his arm tightly in gauze bandages. The dog noticed that he moved and barked as it sat up, tail wagging.

A minute later, the tent flap moved as another eight year old boy, one with spiky auburn hair and hazel eyes that sparkled with life. "Oh good, you're awake. Zane said that if you didn't wake soon he'll have to take you to the nearest hospitable."

The boy frowned, wondering who this 'Zane' fellow was. "I don't know anyone named Zane."

The other boy shook his head, a smirk crossing his face. "Course not. You were asleep when he found ya all beat up. You're lucky that he knows how to tend to injuries better than cookin'."

The first boy scowled at the newcomer, thinking that wasn't very helpful. The large dog thrust its nose in the boy's face, still yapping loudly. Lifting a hand up, he pushed the dog down. "No Marcher, stop your yappin'." Turning his attention back to his forced companion, he held his hand out to him. "My name's Kai. This here is Marcher."

With a jolt, the small underfed boy realized that he was expecting him to give him his name. Glaring at him as hard as he could, he mumbled under his breath. "Nicole."

Kai blinked; clearly surprised about the feminine name that his companion went by. "Do you go by Nick for short or something?"

"Dad calls him Cole when he's in a good mood." Cole pulled his bony knees to his thin chest, wincing as pain stabbed through his side.

"Zane says you got lucky. Didn't break anything, just bruised a whole lot." Kai offered a sympathetic smile to his new potential friend.

Cole scowled at him, just as a tiny girl with short cut black hair and hazel eyes stuck her head in. "Come on you two. Zane says dinner's on."

Kai rolled his eyes, before nodding to the five year old. "That's my little sister, Nya. She's ok for a girl."

"I'm tellin' Zane you said that!" Nya whirled around, fleeing back outside quickly.

Cole snorted, amused about the obvious sibling rivalry between the two. "I still don't know who Zane is."

"He's our older brother…kinda. Come on, Zane made this really good soup for dinner." Kai gestured for Cole to follow him, before leaving him alone again, even Marcher left the tent.

Cole gritted his teeth together as he slowly and carefully inched his way to the tent flap. Pain surged through every point of his body it felt like, making him want to curl up and cry. Tears threatened to escape as he stopped at the tent flap, panting from the extrusion he had used to drag himself the short distance from the sleeping bag and the door. Before he could get the energy to continue onward, the flap swung open again, this time revealing a tall teen with stiff snowy blonde hair, icy blue eyes, and pale skin stood in the door.

Cole belatedly realized this must be the mysterious Zane that the siblings spoke of. The newcomer bent down and offered Cole his arm. "Hello, I am glad to see you are awake. My name is Zane."

"Cole." The incident with Kai made him realize that maybe he shouldn't tell people his full first name.

Zane helped Cole up and out of the tent. Settling down on the picnic table that was set up, Cole bit back a wince of pain. Zane quickly placed bowls of hot, steaming soup in front of them. Cole blinked upon noticing that his bowl was larger and fuller than the others.

"You gave me too much." Cole quietly stated as he stirred the food with his spoon.

Zane shook his head fiercely, sitting down to a small bowl with hardly any food in it. "Nonsense. You are malnourished _and_ underweight for your age and height. When was the last time you had a decent meal?"

Cole scooped up a small bite, his face turning bright red with embarrassment. "Sometime last year…"

"What?! Who are your parents, that is illegal…" Zane was now fuming, clearly angered that a child had gone without food for so long.

Cole, not really wanting his father to get in trouble, quickly waved his hands frantically through the air. "No no! It wasn't my parents! I ran away and don't have any means to get food!" Cole immediately felt horrible, his stomach twisting itself in a knot. Now he's done it, Zane and the siblings were gonna turn him over to the authorities.

"I see." Zane's voice was soft as he thoughtfully took a bit of soup. "We're going to have to buy you new clothes. Those ones are far too small, and filthy, for you to keep. We need to cut your hair too, it's getting long enough that from a distance you can pass for a girl." Cole spluttered at that, shocked that Zane would say so out loud. "You also need a sleeping bag, and water bottle. We do not go without hydrating, and that includes you. Thankfully, there is a village nearby that certainly can help with all of those needs. Though I recommend that you take a bath sooner than that. I am sure that Kai still has some clothes that are too small on him that you can wear. You appear to be about that size anyways." Standing up suddenly, Zane picked up his bowl. "Finish your soup. We need to get more weight on you."

Cole blinked in surprise as Zane walked off to a makeshift sink, where he then started washing his dishes. "What just happened?"

Kai shrugged as he took a large bit of soup. "That's Zane for ya. He takes those without a home in without question…guess he thinks that includes you."

"Kai! No talking with your mouth full!" Zane suddenly hollered as he turned to face them.

Kai ducked his head in embarrassment, hurriedly shoving more food into his mouth. Cole shook his head at him, before slowly eating a few small bites. Unable to continue eating, he pushed his mostly full bowl away…

 **A/N: Done! See? Told you that I would get Cole's origin story up! I know I'm making him OOC, for now. Please note that he is not used to sitting down and eating an actual meal, and he's a lot weaker right now because of that. Next up: Jay!**

 **Review!**

 **SkyTalon**


	5. Jay's origin story

Jay's origin story:

 _ **He was found on their doorstep when he was three weeks old. He was five when he started school and everyone teased and bullied him. He was six when he found out he was adopted. He was eight when he met his best friends…HIS BROTHERS, for the first time….**_

An elderly couple walked into the amusement park, holding the hands of a small boy that appeared to be about six years of age. The couple was wearing greased coveralls and warm smiles. The boy had light brown hair that was neatly combed back, and bright electric blue eyes. He was wearing a pair of jeans, and a blue t-shirt that had a robot on it and said something about a robotics club.

The elderly smiled down at the boy as she walked alongside him. "What do you want to do first Jay, sweetie?"

The little boy frowned as he looked around the large park, before pulling his hand free from the elderly man's hand. Pointing to a long line for the haunted mansion ride, he grinned happily. "There! I like that ride, Ma."

"Ok then." The three of them strode purposely across the park to the long line.

Jay looked around the place as he stood in line, his eyes round with wonder. A giggle escaped someone behind him as he suddenly felt something crashing into him. Startled, he spun around to see a girl his size giggling as she stepped back. She was wearing a simple blue overalls and a maroon shirt, and her black hair was cut short. Her hazel eyes sparkled with excitement as she bounced on her toes.

"Hi!"

"Umm, hi?" Jay took a step back, not sure if he should be weary of her or not.

A tall pale teen with stiff looking snowy white hair and icy blue eyes stepped forward, quickly placing a hand on her head. "Nya, what have I said about running off like that?"

The girl twirled around, smiling as she grabbed the teen's arm. "To not to."

Two boys that appeared to be about eight years of age popped up on either side of the teen. One had spiky auburn hair, and sharp hazel eyes, and the other had pitch black hair and dark chocolate eyes. Jay's mother turned to face them and held her hand out to shake. "My name is Edna. This here is my husband Ed, and our boy Jay. And you are?"

"Zane." The teen accepted the handshake. "This is my brother Kai, our sister Nya, and Kai's friend, Cole." He placed a hand on each of their heads as he said their names.

Nya grinned as she held up six fingers. "I'm this many now!"

Kai groaned as he rolled his eyes at her. "You get excited every time that your birthday rolls around."

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

Zane sighed as he quickly separated them. "Enough. Kai, you get excited on your birthday too, so you cannot tell Nya she cannot be excited."

Kai shrunk down, his cheeks reddening with embarrassment. "Sorry Zane. Sorry sis."

The line surged forward, the two groups moving together instinctively. Once they finally got to the front of the line, the lady that was loading the carts presumed all seven of them were together and loaded them in accordingly.

Jay figured that this was a onetime thing anyways. It wasn't like they were going to spend the **entire** day with them or anything…

….

"Look! I'm big enough to go on the roller coaster!" Nya squealed as she pointed her finger at the dizzying Mega-Monster Coaster.

Jay grinned as he realized that meant he was finally big enough to ride the 'big kid' ride. "Ma, Pa, can I ride the roller coaster?"

Edna glanced at the large ride, before turning to face Zane. "Do you mind taking him with you? I'm afraid we're too old for that kind of ride."

"Of course not." Zane bowed to the couple. "I will gladly take Jay along with this one time."

…

Jay bit into his hamburger, eyeing Cole who was eating as if there was no tomorrow. Kai was squirming in his seat between Ed and Edna, while Zane was wiping Nya's face clean with a napkin.

Ed shook his head, grabbing his glass of water. "You know, you're great with kids. Do you take your siblings and your brother's friend out often?"

Zane smiled tightly, sensing that he probably should tell the truth. "Actually, Kai and Nya are siblings. All three of us are orphans, and no one would take us in. Obviously, I am more prepared to take care of myself than Kai is for the two of them. So, I took them in myself. Cole is a new addition. He ran away from home and would have starved to death if I hadn't found him when I did."

Edna stirred her soup, worrying creasing her brow. "My, sounds like you four have pretty interesting lives. Do you still do school?"

"I already know everything. I have been homeschooling the others." Zane calmly answered as he picked at his salad.

A hum escaped Edna as she glanced over to Ed. Ed nodded to signal that he got the message she was silently giving him. "Kids at the school seem to like picking on Jay. I…we feel as if he would do better with you. Both academically and mentally. Good for him you know."

Zane froze in shock before ducking his head. "I do not know what to say. Thank you for believing in my ability, but I am afraid that I do not hold such trust in myself."

"Nonsense. Just look at these three, strong, healthy kids…all under _your_ care." Edna interjected, nodding to the Kai who was slurping his chocolate milk up his straw as quickly as he could.

Zane fiddled with his sleeve, his brow furrowed in thought. "Are you allergic to dogs, Jay?"

Jay straightened up as quickly as he could, giving up on balancing his spoon on his nose. "No, why do you ask?"

"Kai and Nya still have their father's old dog, Marcher, with them. Just making sure it is safe for you to be around him without any troubles." Zane responded as he pushed some of his salad onto Cole's and Kai's plates. Kai wrinkled his nose at him, while Cole began shoving food into his mouth again.

"Excellent! We'll take Jay home and pack everything he needs as well as give you some money to use to keep him in clothes, in case he outgrows his current ones." Edna stood up.

"We will see you later then." Zane bowed once again to the couple.

Edna quickly wrote something down and handed it to Zane. "Our address. You can't miss it."

….

Jay was sitting next to his sleeping bag, duffle bag, and backpack when Zane, Kai, Nya, and Cole appeared over the horizon. A large black and brown dog looping around them excitedly, tongue lolling out. Kai noticed Jay and burst out at a run, barreling into him.

"Hi ya!" Kai squeezed the life out of the smaller boy.

"Oof. Um, is that Marcher?" Jay nervously eyed the towering monstrosity of a dog.

"Yep!" Kai didn't seem unfazed by how large the dog was compared to them.

Zane glanced over Jay, his brow furrowed in thought. "You are Nya's age, correct?"

"No. I'm eight. I just look younger cause I'm small for my age…" Jay shifted nervously.

"Cool! Bet you can fit in all the good hiding places!" Cole piped up as he joined the conversation.

Jay blinked rapidly, he had never thought of his small size as an advantage before…

 **A/N: Done! Ooh, look! Jay's here which means Lloyd is next! And yes, Ed and Edna basically paid a complete stranger to take Jay and teach him and travel the world with him… got to love them.**

 **Review!**

 **SkyTalon**


	6. Lloyd's origin story

Lloyd's origin story:

 _ **His father was banished years ago. Alone in the underworld, his father ordered the Skullkin army to capture his mother to bring her to him. Years went by, during which he was born. Sensing that he had a great destiny ahead of him, she took him and fled the Underworld. He was abandoned at a boarding school when he was five years old. He was kicked out of the school for not meeting expectations when he was seven. He was almost eight when he ran into his new family….**_

The small blonde haired boy crouched by the river, trying to drink some of the water. Growling in frustration, he straightened back up. He was wearing a black shirt, dark jeans, and a black cape with a hood. The only splash of color was the green number of five that was over his heart. Pulling his hood up, he scanned the area around the place to see if he couldn't find something at least somewhat edible to eat. His green eyes that were flecked with gold, spotted some movement somewhere off to his right. Dropping down into a crouch, he crept back into the undergrowth, hoping it was a rabbit or something else that he could catch and eat.

A disappointed sigh escaped him when an older girl stepped out of the bush. Her black hair was chin length, and her hazel glittered with life. She was wearing a red jumpsuit with gold trimming on it and seemed interested in the river. Bending down, she stuck her hand in the fast flowing water, allowing the water to move around and over her hand. The boy twitched his nose, feeling a sneeze coming on. Lifting a hand up, he pressed it against his nose, pinching it shut so as to stifle the urge. It didn't work.

"AAAAHHH-CHOOO!"

The girl spun around, trying to see who had sneezed. "Hello? Is someone there?" The boy froze, hoping against all hope that if he didn't move, she wouldn't notice him. She placed her hands on her hips, tossed back her head…and promptly yelled. "Guys!"

There was a loud crashing sound before three boys followed by a large black and brown dog came crashing through the under bush. The tallest boy, who had spiky auburn hair and hazel eyes that matched hers, spoke first, alarm flooding his voice. "What's wrong sis?"

"Yeah! What he said…what's wrong?" The boy with neatly combed black hair nodded to him, crossing his rather muscular arms in front of his chest.

The small boy hiding in the bushes swallowed hard as he realized that the two bigger boys were obviously in their early teens. The smaller boy, who had neatly combed light brown hair and electric blue eyes, was a bit harder to place than them, though he figured he was about the same age as either the girl or the two other boys.

Electric blue eyes darted his eyes around, before speaking up nervously. "You don't need to copy Kai, Cole. We like you the way you are. Even if you're scared of dragons."

"I'm not scared of dragons Jay!" The boy with the muscles, Cole according to the smaller boy, roared suddenly spooking all of the nearby wildlife except for a single falcon that was watching the argument with mild interest.

The boy with spiky hair rolled his eyes as he planted is hands on his hips. "Knock it off. Zane sent us to find leaves from a maple tree….not to fight!"

The girl rolled her eyes as she petted the large dog. "I heard someone sneeze. Was it one of you?"

"No." The boys chorused in unison.

The small boy nibbled his bottom lip in thought, before slipping timidly out of his hiding spot. "It was me….sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."

The girl blinked in surprise at the sight of him, before grinning and holding her hand out to him suddenly. "My name's Nya. The hothead is my brother Kai, and the others are his friends, Cole and Jay. What's your name?"

"Lloyd." Lloyd held his hand out to her to shake. "I'll be eight next week."

Nya nodded, before slipping her hand back into her pocket. "I'm only eleven…and the guys are thirteen."

Jay nodded in agreement, a grin crossing his face. "Five years." Everyone gave him a weird look, forcing him to raise his hands in surrender, and expound on what he meant by that. "We've known each other for five years. Me and Cole joined up with you two five years ago."

Kai rubbed his chin thoughtfully, as if he had a beard that he could thoughtfully rub. "That means that Zane's been our guardian for eight years. At least I think eight plus five equals thirteen."

"It does." Jay and Nya spoke in unison, before both blushed as they looked away from each other.

Lloyd scrunched his brow together, confused about what was so embarrassing about saying things in unison, especially since Jay had done that already with the others. "This is the second time you mentioned this Zane person."

Cole glanced at him, a frown on his face. "Where are your parents, kid?"

Lloyd shrugged, trying to be nonchalant about it. "Dad's been banished and Mom dumped me off at this boarding school….only I didn't like it so I ran away." Lloyd scratched the dog behind the ear, causing it to flop to the ground in bliss.

"He's lying. The school kicked him out and he has no way to contact his mother. And I believe I told you four to collect examples of maple leaves for our science lesson today?" A new, masculine, voice called out from behind Lloyd suddenly.

Squeals of Zane escaped the others as they rushed forward and tackled whoever was standing behind Lloyd in a hug. Stiffening, Lloyd slowly turned around, expecting to see a fully grown adult male standing behind him. To his shock, another teen stood there, wrapping his arms around the others in a warm hug. The newcomer was far taller than the others, with stiff snowy white hair and icy blue eyes that surprisingly danced with life, looking straight at him.

Reaching an arm out to Lloyd, Zane offered to include him in the group hug. "If you like, you can stay with us for a while Lloyd."

"Thank you." Lloyd allowed himself to be pulled into the hug. "Not really a hugger by the way…just so you know." A bark escaped the dog has he ran over and began licking everyone rapidly. Lloyd laughed as he reached up and stroked the dog's fur. "What's your name fella?"

"That's Marcher. He belongs to Kai and Nya." Jay piped up as he wiggled his way free of the group hug.

Zane nodded to the trees surrounding them, a smile on his face. "How about we make it a race. First person to bring back three maple leaves can pick tonight's song."

There was an instant stampede, and loud squealing, as the four older kids tore off to find the needed leaves. Lloyd bit his bottom lip, before running after the others. He had a favorite song that he wouldn't mind hearing again…

 **A/N: Done! Ok, changed my mind. Lloyd is just one chapter, not two. From now on though… we won't be getting much time skips since it is time for them to go on an adventure of a lifetime. Next up, going back to where Kai and Nya first met Zane… and find a certain map.**

 **Now, how can three teens, one preteen and one child convince our favorite nindroid that they need to go look for the 'treasure' that the map leads to? Stay tune to find out!**

 **Review!**

 **SkyTalon**


	7. The Map in the Sign

The Map in the Sign

The run down shop they finally stopped at was in need of an extreme makeover. Zane bit his bottom lip as he glanced over at his young companions, worried about how they might react to the place being so worn down. He needn't to worry. Gasps escaped the five of them as they walked up to the fallen down rotting sign.

"This is soo cool! You guys used to live here?" Cole whipped around to gap at Kai and Nya.

The sibling dup nodded their heads as they looked around the place. Kai spoke up as Marcher ran past them to chase something. "It wasn't this rundown when we left though. At least…not from what I can remember. Man the sign is terrible. Dad always was very careful about taking care of it."

The group of three thirteen, one eleven, and one finally eight year old stepped up to crowd around it. Zane hummed as he looked to the name of the shop. "Can anyone tell me about the Mystery of the Golden Weapons?"

Groans escaped the others, before they turned to face him. Lloyd cheerfully volunteered to go first. "Ninjago was founded by the First Spinjitzu Master. He used four golden, _powerful_ , weapons to create it. However, after he died his eldest son turned evil…"

Kai cut in, his voice almost dull with annoyance from the unexpected history pop quiz. "So his younger son hid the weapons and drew a map that would lead to them."

"He then gave the map to someone he trusted to hide. That was almost forty years ago." Nya continued as she glanced over at Cole and Jay.

Cole crossed his arms as he rolled his eyes skyward. "He sent a letter to the younger son telling him where he had hidden the letter supposedly. But it made no sense."

"The letter read where the Four Weapons cross, there the map lies." Jay helpfully supplied. "No one knows what it means though, thus why no one has ever found the weapons."

Zane nodded in agreement, pleased with their answer. "Correct. Now then, ten years ago, a prophesy about the four golden weapons came up. Anyone know what it says?" Mumbles of no escaped the younger friends. Zane sighed with disappointment, before speaking up again. "It says that the Spirit of the First Spinjitzu Master will choose someone worthy to wield his weapons. They alone will be able to find where the weapons are stashed."

Soft oh's escaped the group, before Jay got distracted by something. "Hey Kai! Look, the wood looks different where the four weapons cross than elsewhere."

All eyes snapped to the sign. Zane couldn't help the whisper that escaped him. "Where the Four Weapons cross, there the map lies… it wasn't talking about actual weapons! It was talking about a sign for a store called the _Four Weapons_! The sign has four weapons on it! This is…is amazing! The historical discovery of the century! What do you think you are doing?" Zane looked back down at his charges to find them attempting to pry open the spot.

"We're getting the map out. Obviously. We can go on the greatest treasure hunt in the century with it!" Kai exclaimed as he concentrated at clawing at the wood.

Zane sighed, before pushing himself between his companions and the wooden sign. "Absolutely not! We will leave this to the professionals…"

Cole sighed as he took a step back. "Of course…I mean it's not like the map will most likely lead us to a place rich with history or anything like that…" Cole nodded to the others, who quickly caught on to what he was doing.

"Yeah…and definitely most likely won't take us through various climates each with their own unique habitats…" Jay piped up as he slowly backed away from the sign.

Lloyd blinked, glancing around as he wondered what they were up to. Kai sighed, as he tapped his finger against his chin. "Certainly won't help us solve the biggest mystery in all of Ninjago all the while learning all kinds of new things..."

Lloyd shook his head, before turning to face the never aging sixteen year old. "Would it help if I tell you that I'm a descendant of the First Spinjitzu Master?"

Zane stared at them for five seconds, before pointing an accusing finger at Cole, Kai, and Jay. "You three are trying to get me to cave in by using the knowledge the map is bond to bring us against me. I will have you know that …is absolutely working and let me get the map out for you." Zane turned around and ran his fingers carefully along the sign, looking for some sort of latch to open it.

A minute later, he winced as his fingernail snagged on something. Pulling, he blinked as the piece of wood popped out revealing what looked like an old flashlight and a yellow piece of parchment lying inside of the sign. Grabbing it, he unrolled the parchment to find it completely blank…

"That's it!? All that mystery for a piece of _blank_ paper!?" Jay whined as he stared at the map.

Zane however was distracted by the flashlight in his hand. "Interesting… excuse me, but do you all see that symbol there on the bottom of the flashlight?"

"Yes." They chorused together as they surrounded Zane.

"It is the ancient symbol used for earth. I wonder why it is…" Zane flicked the flashlight on, shining the brownish-blue light onto the map. Gasps escaped everyone when lines spread out across the parchment, forming a map with the same symbol in a certain spot. "On here. Hmm…we found the map now, and I guess that means we have to go there to find the Golden Weapons."

"Umm, guys? Unless my geography is off, I'm pretty sure that is the Caves of Despair. No one enters there and comes back alive." Nya pointed out nervously.

Zane frowned as he realized that Nya was right. They need some sort of boost to get through that maze of caves alive…

"Uncle Wu." Lloyd stared at the map, the two words falling out of his mouth without a thought. All eyes turned to him in confusion. Lloyd looked up and realized everyone was staring at him. "What? It makes sense! Uncle Wu was the one who hid the weapons in the first place! Which means that he knows how to navigate the Caves of Despair."

Zane sighed with relief, realizing that maybe having the younger boy along might be helpful. "Do you know where we can find him?"

Lloyd turned bright red as he looked to the ground again. "Umm, I think he lives in Grandpa's monastery at the top of the Mountain of a Thousand Steps."

Instant groaning. "That'll take too long! We want to find it now!"

Zane sighed as he glanced to the sky, already doing calculations in his head. "We're not too far from it. We'll spend the night here and leave first thing in the morning. I'm sure he'll help us."

 **A/N: Done! Things are about to get interesting. Now then, how many of you think Sensei Wu is going to help them…and how many of you think that he'll turn them away thinking that they are working for his brother?**

 **Review!**

 **SkyTalon**


	8. The Estranged Uncle

The Estranged Uncle:

Lloyd slowed down as he neared the top of the mountain, staring nervously at the large monastery at the top. Zane noticed this and placed a firm, but gentle hand on his back. "Is everything alright Lloyd?"

Lloyd swallowed hard as he glanced down at his feet. "Just nervous…I mean…we know about each other…but we've never met. What if Uncle Wu doesn't help us?"

Kai suddenly pushed past the others, nudging Lloyd hard. "He'll help us. I mean, who can say no to you?"

Lloyd brightened up at that, before rushing up ahead and knocking loudly on the front door. Zane smiled as he glanced at the younger teen. "That was a good thing you did right there, Kai."

Kai shrugged, before hurrying to catch up with Lloyd. Soon all six of them were standing in front of the door, banging on it…until Zane noticed a doorbell. Deciding that maybe Lloyd's uncle couldn't hear them, he pressed the bell. Everyone immediately jumped back at the sound of a gong ringing throughout the monastery. A minute later, the door opened to reveal an old man with a long white beard and piercing green eyes. A warm smile was on his face as he looked them over. "Yes? How may I help you?"

"We're here to see my Uncle Wu! Ya see we found the map to the golden weapons but we need his help." Lloyd quickly explained, his green-gold eyes already widening into his puppy eyes.

The old man stiffened as he looked down at Lloyd. "You're not by chance my nephew, Lloyd Garmadon, are you?"

"Yes! That's me! And these are my friends…" Lloyd started to introduce the others.

Wu interrupted him, a scowl crossing his features. "Absolutely not! I will not help my brother get a hold of Father's weapons! And that is final!" He then slammed the door in their faces.

"So…what now?" Cole looked questionably over at Zane.

Zane rubbed his forehead as he realized that once again, the others were looking to him for guidance. "Come on. I'm sure to think of something at some point… let's get back to Marcher before he starts whining." With that said, he ushered them back down the stairs that led up the mountain…

~Meanwhile inside the Monastery~

Sensei Wu felt his heart pound loudly in his chest as he moved through the empty halls of the monastery, a place of learning and refuge for ninjas in the past, his eyes staring straight ahead. He eventually arrived at the monastery's library, thrusting the door wide open. Walking in, he looked around casually, all the while his steps not once faltered. They didn't falter until he reached the far wall. He felt guilt niggling the back of his mind for the abrupt way he turned his own nephew away, but he had panicked. He just couldn't risk Garmadon to get a hold of the weapons…but yet…. There was something about them. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he stopped in front of the empty wall. Empty except for a single picture, a painting really, of his father standing next to him and his brother, a woman, Lloyd's mother next to Garmadon. Biting the inside of his cheek, he reached up and pressed a finger against his father's hat. Immediately, there was a low grinding sound as the secret doorway hidden there slowly swung open….

~Back at the others' campsite~

"Marcher! Fetch!" Kai threw the ball as hard as he could throw it, grinning as he watched the old dog scramble to his feet.

Zane watched this from the corner of his eye, not liking how much slower Marcher was now than he was when they were younger. "Kai? I don't think that Marcher will survive much longer. Will you and Nya be ok when the time comes?"

Kai glanced over at his sister, who was working on one of her inventions with Jay dutifully hovering over her. "I think we will be fine…." Kai's voice was tight, betraying the fact that he was not in fact fine with that announcement.

Zane sighed, before going back to his cooking. Cole was attempting to help Zane cook their dinner, while Lloyd was reading one of their many books…. By the looks of things one of Jay's comic books. Reaching a hand out, he stopped Cole from grabbing a large handful of dried chilies. "Cole…. That is not in the recipe, and despite what you think, that will make it worse, not better."

"Oh all right then." Cole slouched slightly as he continued to stir the pot.

After awhile, Zane called all of the children to the table. Sitting down, they squealed with delight as he served the hot soup into their bowls.

….

"Zane? Can I give Marcher the leftovers?" Nya sat her spoon down, life sparkling in her eyes.

Zane nodded as he gathered up the dirty dishes. "Yes you may Nya."

Nya jumped up from the table, grabbing the almost empty pot of soup and carrying it over to where Marcher was sleeping. Kneeling down next to the dog, she poured the food out onto the ground. "Time to eat Marcher." Marcher didn't open his eyes to see what it was that Nya was doing, continuing on with his nap. Nya frowned as she ran her fingers through his course fur. "Marcher? Come on boy, time to get up. I brought you some dinner… Marcher? Kai! There's something wrong with Marcher!" Nya was by now going into hysterics trying to get the old, loyal dog to wake up.

Alarmed, Zane and Kai both ran over to see what was going on with the dog. Kai gently shook him, his voice a low murmur. "Come on Marcher….you need to get up…"

Zane felt his heart skip a beat as he realized what was wrong with the elderly dog. "Kai…you remember what I was talking about earlier about his age? I think it happened while we were eating dinner…."

"No!" With that, Kai burst into tears, clutching at the limp, lifeless body.

Nya, oblivious with what Zane meant, turned to face the older teen. "Zane? What do you mean by that?"

"I mean that he is dead, Nya." Zane braced himself for the onslaught he knew was coming.

A loud wail escaped the small eleven year old as she threw herself at Zane, sobbing hysterically. Jay and Cole ran over, alarm on their faces. "What's going on over here?"

"Marcher just died…" Zane trailed off, recalling how these two had played with Marcher alongside Nya and Kai.

Right on cue, loud wails tore from the two young teens as they flung themselves to the ground. Lloyd ran over right then, his gaze darting to the limp form of Marcher. "He's dead?" Disappointment edged his voice as he looked to the large form, before he sat down and tears started to stream down his face.

Zane felt slightly overwhelmed at that, having not realized that Lloyd had grown attached to the dog as well.

 **A/N: Done! And never again! I felt…and still do for that matter, upset for killing off Marcher. But it had to be done! He was thirteen years old in human years, dogs typically don't live as long as humans. And that is ancient according to dog years. On the bright side, after nearly bawling because Marcher died, I will not kill off Roadkill ever! (For those of you that read Back in my Days…) Hmm, I probably should put a warning on the summary about this chapter…**

 **Review!**

 **SkyTalon**


	9. The Caves of DespairNot!

The Caves of Despair….Not!:

Zane reached a hand out and grabbed Lloyd by the shirt, stopping him from running down to the formidable maze of caves down below. "Lloyd! Wait! We need a plan of action to find the Golden Weapons…and let's review the history of this place first…."

"No one who enters is ever seen again. There, we know the history of this place." Kai grumped as he folded his arms.

Zane frowned as he stared at the younger boy for a second, before shaking his head. "What about the wildlife here?"

"It's a canyon in the middle of a large forest. Despite what people might think, it only has a few types of snakes as well as mice and spiders. One of the types of snakes is poisonous." Nya and Jay countered in unison.

Lloyd looked up at Zane expectedly. "Can we go down now?"

Zane ran his fingers through his hair as he wondered why he ever agreed to this. "We still need a plan."

"Can't we just follow the humming?" Cole, who had been unnaturally silent doing the whole conversation, spoke up.

"What humming?" All of them asked in perfect unison.

Cole blinked, before whispering quietly. "What do you mean by that? Can't you hear it? Someone's humming down there…" Without thinking, Cole sprinted down the side of the canyon.

"Cole! Come back here! People get lost down there all the time!" Zane gave chase, panic flooding him.

By the time they all arrived at the bottom of the canyon, Cole was nowhere in sight…

~With Cole~

Cole was nearly memorized by the rather persistent humming. He had passed a lantern awhile ago that lit itself up when he picked it up, lighting the dark caves so that he could see where he was going. Not that he was paying any attention of course. Turning to follow the humming down yet another path, he didn't notice that he was coming up on a dead end until he suddenly crashed in a large boulder. Yelping, he took a step back. "Hey guys, I think someone is trapped behind the boulder here…"Cole turned around to see that no one was with him. "Guys?! Oh no." Cole began hyperventilating as he crouched down in front of the boulder.

The humming stopped suddenly, making the cave appear to be deathly silent. A minute later, a loud grinding noise filled the cave as the boulder slowly rolled away. A large brown dragon padded out of the cave behind the boulder, looking down at the small terrified teen below its feet. Bending down, it gently nuzzled him. Startled, Cole looked up to see the ginormous dragon hovering above him. All color fled his face as he scrambled backwards away from the dragon. His mouth dropped open as an earsplitting scream tore right out of him in horror. "AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

~With Zane~

" _AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"_ Cole's voice tore through the air, making Zane's heart skip a beat with terror as he scanned the area for any sign of the teen.

~Back with Cole~

The dragon took an involuntary step back, ears flattening against his head. A low growl of surprise escaped the dragon, before he turned and…shrank down to the size of his palm. Tiny wings flapping, it landed on and continued nuzzling Cole. Cole took a shaky breath as he slowly reached to touch the dragon's scales. Upon touching the scales, he was amazed to find that they were dry and hard to the touch…and felt exactly like a rock out in the desert felt like. "Hmm, rocky little fellow aren't ya?" Cole blinked, a grin crossing his face. "That's what I'll call you! Rocky! Uh, Rocky…have you seen anything like a golden weapon around here. Also someone was humming earlier. Do you know where?"

The now dubbed Rocky flapped his wings eagerly as he flew up and circled Cole's head, before heading back to the cave he was just in. Cole stood up and followed him, interest peaked. As he continued on the path with his new guide, the humming began again. A loud gasp tore from him as he ran on ahead. "I hear the humming again!" he sprinted to a smaller cave in the back of the cave Rocky led him to. Right smack in the middle of the cave was a pedestal….with the scythe of quakes resting on it. Cole moved closer to it and reaching out, poked the powerful weapon. Immediately there was a bright light and explosion that knocked Cole backwards….

Once the stars in his eyes stopped dancing, Cole sat up to find that the scythe of quakes was gone, but there was a box sitting on the pedestal now. After checking that he still had Rocky with him, he picked the box out and turned to leave.

….

Kai tackled Cole the second the boy stepped out of the maze of caves. "Cole! You're alive!"

"Why did you think I wasn't alive?" Cole wiggled away from his acting weirdly friend…only for his best friend to tackle him.

"Cause we heard you scream! Then it was just silent!" Jay bawled loudly as he buried his face into his shoulder.

"I'm fine. Rocky just startled me is all. Once I got used to him though, it was fine." Cole assured the bawling, smaller boy.

Jay sniffled, even as Zane crossed his arms. "And who might rocky be?"

Cole grinned before holding his arm out…which Rocky gently landed on. "Rocky! Meet everyone, everyone meet Rocky."

"Oh wow! A real life dragon! Wait…we were supposed to be looking for the golden weapons." Nya paused as she recalled the reason they were here.

Cole began to bounce out of excitement. "I saw the scythe of quakes! I mean the others weren't there… only then there was this bright light and it disappeared and this box showed up." He then handed the box to Zane…who opened it to find another flashlight inside of it.

"Another flashlight…and this one has the symbol for ice on it." Zane hummed out of interest as he flicked the light on. A blueish-white glow shot out of the flashlight, though it didn't appear to do anything…until Kai slipped the map underneath it. Once again the map showed underneath the strange light. Only this time it lead them elsewhere…and had the symbol for ice on it.

"The Frozen Wasteland? But we were there just last year and we didn't see anything like a golden weapon hiding place there." Nya pouted at what she thought was a dead end.

Zane shook his head as he carefully put the map and both flashlights away. "The map leads further into the Frozen Wasteland than what we had gone in."

"Oh…"

"We need to stop somewhere and buy new winter clothes for this trip." Zane commented casually.

"Yeah!"

 **A/N: Done! Hmm, I wonder what happened to the scythe of quakes…and that persisting humming that only Cole could hear! Next stop is…Zane abandoning the group due to a strange humming noise!**

 **Review!**

 **SkyTalon**


	10. Zane abandons the others

Zane accidently abandons the others:

Zane rubbed his hands together, even as he listened the others talking amongst themselves…

"I hope we run into an ice polar bear!"(Kai)

"I want to see an ice whale!"(Nya)

"Um…what are those?"(Lloyd)

"The ice polar bears are awesomer than some ice whale!"(Kai)

"Are not! And awesomer is not a word!"(Nya)

"Um, guys?"(Lloyd)

Zane frowned, wondering if he should break up the fight before it got worse, when Jay suddenly yelled. "Zane! Kai and Nya are doing it again!"

Zane sighed, before turning around to look at the bickering siblings. "Alright you two…break it up. And Kai, Nya is correct. Awesomer is not a real word. Please refrain from using it in the future."

"Yes Zane." The siblings stopped their fight immediately upon noticing that Zane had noticed.

Zane ran his fingers through his hair, wondering how he got himself into these kinds of messes…oh wait. He volunteered to keep an eye on all of them. Turning his attention back to the ship's steering wheel, he barely avoided crashing into a giant glacier. "We also have a higher chance of seeing an ice whale out here than an ice polar bear."

Kai pouted at that, making Zane wonder if he should worry about his strange obsession with carnivorous animals. A hand suddenly tugged hard on his sleeve. "Zane? What's that?" Zane glanced down to see that it was just Cole, pointing to something in front of them. Frowning, he looked up to see that there was a dead end up ahead… and that the dead end happened to be what appeared to be a temple made entirely out of ice.

"I have no idea. We'll stop for the night here though. Anyone remembers what naturally grows here that is edible?" Zane knew how much the others hated pop quizzes, but he loved them and knew they knew the stuff he was asking.

Groans could be heard from the older four, before they spoke in perfect unison. "The ice berries and the fish. Nothing else grows here…unless it is near extinction like the ice whales and ice polar bears."

"Good job! Kai, how about you go into the ship's galley and get the stove going?" Zane asked the one he really considered his little brother to go and get the meal started.

Kai nodded before disappearing back inside…where it was warmer. Kai had a harder time handling the cold than the others and despite his fascination with the wildlife here, preferred to be indoors.

~Back with Sensei~

"We have a problem… you remember how there was that prophesy once that declared that one of Father's chosen ones would be a teen that never ages with icy blue eyes? Well… let's just say that Lloyd showed up at my doorstep with this teen that had icy blue eyes. What if Garmadon is finding the chosen ones to do his duty work?" Sensei paced nervously across the room, holding the phone to his ear. He listened to the voice on the other side for a minute before speaking again. "No… I sent them away. I didn't think at the moment that they might not be working for Garmadon…" Another pause. "I know where to go to find them. They have the map to the first weapon. I'll go intersect them…before they get lost hopefully." Silence filled the air, before he uttered five words full of longing. "I miss you too. Bye." He then hung up his phone, slipping it back into his pocket. He had a trip to prepare for…

~Back with Zane~

Zane tossed and turned in his bed, his mind unable to shut down. Sitting up in his bed, he swung his legs over and got up; figuring that checking on the kids for the hundredth time that night couldn't hurt him. He tiptoed quietly to the closest bedroom door, which was where Cole and Rocky slept. The little dragon for some unknown reason was rather attached to Cole and wouldn't leave him alone for more than a few seconds. Sighing upon seeing that Rocky was, like always, curled up next to Cole in his bed, the two of them sleeping soundly while Cole's arm was draped over the course scales of the dragon. He then proceeded down the hall. Everything was alright; all of the children were sound asleep. But then why was he hearing a low humming sound? As if someone had his favorite song stuck in their head and couldn't get it out? The only one that hummed in their sleep was Cole and he was humming well, a different song than the one Zane was hearing. Honestly if he was honest with himself it sounded like it was coming from…outside?

Turning to the steps that led up to the deck, he considered following the noise. If there was someone nearby he needed to know if they were a threat to his charges. With that thought in mind, he strode of to find the source once and for all. Outside of the dimly lit ship, it was pitch black except for the few stars and the sliver of moon in the sky. Hugging himself close, he walked down the plank onto the solid ground, following the humming noise. His eyes flickered over the ice temple as he slowly approached it, realizing that he what he was hearing was coming from inside of it. Did that mean that someone lived here, of all places?

Timidly, he slipped into the large building. The noise appeared to be coming from behind a large set of doors to his right. Walking slowly, he carefully knocked on the cold door. The persistent humming stopped. Zane bit his lip as he wondered if the person was shy, and wouldn't like being disturbed at this hour. The door creaked open…and a large Ice light blue almost white Ice Dragon, a creature only ever spoken of in fairytales was standing right in front of him. Amazement slipped through as he looked at the large beast. A snort escaped the dragon, even as the humming picked up again…this time somewhere behind the dragon. Ducking around the legendary creature, he scurried in to find the source of the humming. "Hello? I heard you humming and can't help but be impressed…." Zane broke off upon noticing that no one was there. No one was there but the gold shruikens of ice were. Amazed, he reached out and touched the powerful relics. Immediately there was a bright flash of light, which blinded him. When the light vanished from view, much to his disappointment, the weapons were gone, replaced with an old chest. Picking the chest up, he turned to notice that the dragon was watching him curiously. Upon noticing that he was watching it, the dragon sneezed, ice shards flying everywhere.

"Uh…Shard. How does that sound for a name majestic being?" Zane asked the dragon what he thought about being called Shard.

The newly named Shard expressed his excitement upon hearing his name by jumping up and down. As he did so though, he shrank to the size of Zane's palm. Zane smiled as Shard settled on his shoulder like a proud parrot. Shaking his head at that weird simile, he strode off back to the ship. He had quite the story to tell the others in the morning.

 **A/N: Done! Phew… um yeah. Sensei is kinda a step behind them. But Zane has Shard now! I also have a cold…that won't go away. And I've been behaving so well with it! Ok, maybe going to that demo kitchen Monday was not the best thing to do when fighting a cold… oops. But I've been good the rest of the time…. Can't think of anything else to say…**

 **Review!**

 **SkyTalon**


	11. Jay Finds a New Friend

Jay Finds a New Friend:

Zane stifled a yawn as he used the most recently found flashlight to shine on the map. It showed that the next weapon was located at the top of the Floating Ruins…the one place he hadn't taken the kids before…and one he didn't want to take them. Floating Ruins was an abandoned city that was literally floating in the sky. Due to the difficulty of getting up there, he had never bothered coming here, though he made sure that they knew the history of this historical landmark.

"Ooh! Does anyone else hear that cool song? We should totally follow it!" Jay bounced from his spot next to Cole.

Nya frowned as she looked up at the Ruins. "So far…one of us hears a song and follows it. When they reach the location of the song, one of the weapons is right there. Anyone else see a pattern here?"

Cole nodded in agreement, stroking Rocky gently. "You're right. I still can't believe that Zane left us alone."

All eyes turned to the eldest member of the group, who was looking up at the Ruins, with Shard resting on his shoulder. Zane noticed them looking at him and turned to face them. "I have already apologized for abandoning you five during the night."

Mumbles of doubt rippled the group…right before Lloyd asked a very good question. "Um, guys? Where's Jay?"

Zane snapped his head up and around. Sure enough, the small teen was gone. "Oh no…"

"Maybe he noticed by now and is on his way back?" Kai tepidly asked, worry creasing his brow.

Zane mumbled, that Jay better be heading back by now…

~With Jay~

"…And it's such a pretty song guys! Ooh, Nya maybe we can go on a date after all of this. Oh! Kai…is it ok that I take your sister out for a date?" Jay rambled excitedly as he climbed the long chain into the storm clouds that protected the Floating Ruins. "Hey Cole! I noticed a pretty easy cake recipe the other day…wanna try it out? Man you guys are being quieter than usual. Ooh! Look! Lightning!" Jay gazed with pure amazement at the flashing bolts of lightning. "I've always wonder it would be like to get hit by lightning. I bet it won't hurt at all! Just sting a little like when someone shocks ya. What do you say Zane?" This time, the silence bugged Jay and he rapidly whacked his mind to figure something out to get the others to talk to him. "Ooh! I know… we can sing along to the song! I already know the words and I'm sure that you know them too!" With that, he burst out in song. ( **A/N: Imagine the tune of the most annoying song you can think of…** ) "Lalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalala! Why isn't anyone singing along with me?" Jay turned around to discover that he was hundreds of miles in the air, and none of the others were with him. "Oh…that's why." He then started to sing again….this time to help calm himself, though fear made his voice shake. "Lalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalala…"

A bright electric blue dragon's head suddenly appeared out of nowhere, staring down at Jay as if he were crazy. Jay smiled up at the dragon, his fear still pounding loudly in his ears. "Hi! My name's Jay! What's yours?"

The dragon blinked, before shaking its head and pulling away from Jay. Jay frowned, before yelling up at the dragon as he continued climbing. "Does that mean you don't have a name? Can I name you? How do you like the sound of Wisp? Ooh! That's the perfect name for you!" Jay pulled himself up onto the platform that the wind was buffeting wildly.

Jay blinked as he looked around the platform that he decided that the dragon named Wisp lived on. It was empty except for one small raised stand…that had the golden nunchucks of lightning resting on top of it. "Cool!" Jay sprinted forward and touched the weapon. A bright light flared up, _attempting_ to blind the teen. "Soo awesome!"

~Back with Sensei~

Sensei wanted to scream. The guardian of the Scythe of Quakes was gone…as was the powerful scythe and the chest with the flashlight that would lead whoever has it to the next weapon. Whipping his cell out, he called the same person as before. "We have a problem. The Scythe of Quakes is missing. I'm headed to the Frozen Wastelands to catch up with them. Wish me the best of luck." He then hung up the phone, frustrated that he had gotten voicemail of all days.

He had a really long journey ahead of him if he was going to make it…

~Back with the Others~

"Soo, how do we tell Ed and Edna that we lost their kid?" Cole asked as he bit his bottom lip.

Zane ran his fingers through his hair, panic dancing in his eyes. "We didn't lose him…yet. I'll take Shard and fly on up. Cole? You're in charge until I get back, understood?"

Cole nodded, worry creasing his brow, as he wondered how he was going to handle the responsibility. He needn't have to worry. Kai had something to say about that. "Hey! What about me? I can be in charge!"

Zane pinched his nose in exasperation as he turned around to look at the boy that has been with him the longest. "Kai… you don't have the patience to be leader. I am sorry, but Cole is my best bet right now."

"Cole's your best bet for what?" Jay materialized out of nowhere, a miniature Wisp sitting on his shoulder.

"Jay!" "You're back!" "Yes…I don't have to be in charge!" All of the friends tackled hugged him.

Jay laughed as he hugged his friends back. "Guess what? I saw the golden nunchucks of lightning with my own eyes! Oh…and this here is Wisp. This is super cool! And I have the next flashlight with me… oh! And I'm hungry."

Everyone laughed at that, before Zane suggested that they eat some dinner before looking at the map.

…

Jay licked his lips, wiping his hands on his napkin. After eating an entire plate full of spaghetti, he was ready to tell them one more thing that he discovered…. "So, guys? Um, yeah I discovered something else while I was up there…"

All eyes turned to him, curiosity dancing in their eyes…

 **A/N: Done! Ah Ehm, I just left you with a nice little cliffie… I think. Does not knowing what Jay found out count as a cliffhanger? Hope you all liked this little chapter…oh wait. Who do you all think Sensei keeps calling about the others? Leave your guesses in the reviews!**

 **Review!**

 **SkyTalon**


	12. Everyone Abandons Zane

Everyone Abandons Zane…Also they make a startling discovery:

Zane watched as the children played together, giggles flooding the area. The map had this time lead them to the ancient Temple of Fire. They were camping just within walking distance to it, with plans to head over there in the morning. If they could last that long without someone disappearing on them…

After awhile, he pulled the pot of soup he was making off of the collapsible stove. "Dinner's ready!"

"Oh yum!" "Smells good."

….

Kai tossed and turned in his red sleeping bag, sleep evading him. Sighing, he sat up and slowly unzipped his bag. Kicking the top layer off, he crawled out and headed to the tent flap door. He had just started to unzip that when Nya woke up.

"Uh…what's goin'…Kai what are you doing!?" Nya scrambled out of her maroon sleeping bag, panic flaring in her eyes.

Kai rolled his eyes as he crouched down next to the door. "I can't sleep. Reason why I'm gonna go see what is making that singing noise."

Nya blinked slowly, before bursting into tears. "No! If you go then you'll find the last weapon without us! It's supposed to be a team effort!"

Unfortunately, her yelling awoke Lloyd. Catching on to what she was saying, the young child burst into tears as well. "Kai, you can't leave us!"

His crying and shouting lead to Cole waking up. Cole sighed, before slipping out of his dark brown with orange stripes sleeping bag….unfortunately he knocked into Jay, making him drop the teddy bear that he was cuddling with. Of course being Jay meant that he woke up after that. "What's going on?"

"Kai keeps hearing something called music. The rest of us can't hear anything which means it has to be the sword of fire. As long as we're careful we can all go and find it." Cole pointed out as he grabbed his shoes and shoved them on.

"Oh..." "Why didn't I think of that?" "Brilliant Cole." "Wait…should we wake Zane and the dragons first?"

Everyone paused in the process of putting their shoes on, upon hearing Lloyd's question. Kai glanced over at where Zane's sleeping form was covered by the silvery white sleeping bag. "Maybe not. We can get Rocky and Wisp but we should leave Shard since he is Zane's dragon." Turning his attention back to his shoes, he quickly finished tying them. "We'll be doing Zane a favor by not waking him. He doesn't get enough sleep as is."

Nods of agreement rippled through the five friends as they agreed to the plan. Unzipping the tent, they slipped silently into the cold night air…

…..

"That's the fire temple?! It is… _sooo_ much smaller than I thought it would be." Jay gawked at the sight of the fire temple in front of them.

Kai shrugged, leading the way to the giant front doors. "Come on. It's coming from inside."

Nya ran up ahead and grabbed her brother's hand, ignoring the fact some might take that as she is scared or something. Upon entering the building itself, they immediately noticed the sword of fire resting in the middle of a river of lava, a bright red fire dragon sleeping next to it.

Lloyd bit his bottom lip as he eyed the sleeping mythical creature. "Soo, what now?"

Cole shrugged, not really knowing, while Jay stared dumbfounded at the river of lava. Nya spoke up, her voice soft. "I think you need to let the dragon know you're here Kai. And after that you need to touch the sword so that it can shrink and go inside of you."

Kai swallowed hard at that, before tiptoeing up to the giant creature. "Hey there…can…can you hear me?" The dragon snorted, lifting one heavy eyelid to look at him. "I can hear the sword of fire singing, so is it ok if I touch it real quick?" Another snort, only this time the dragon pushed him to the sword. "Taking that as a yes…wait! I'm not fire proofed!"

Shaking his head, the dragon slid into the lava, making sure that his back was above the lava. Kai blinked, before slowly crossing over the dragon's back. "Thank you. Uh, I probably should give you a name to refer to you as…how does Flames sound?"

Flames happily gurgled at that, before nudging the stone that the sword was sitting on. Kai reached out and gently touched the sword of fire…and the blinding light that the others had to deal with flooded the room.

~Meanwhile back with Zane~

Zane stirred awake, wanting to check on his young companions. Eyes flickering slightly, he barely noticed anything out of the ordinary as he started to slip back asleep…and promptly snapped wide awake. Jay's teddy bear was lying on the ground next to his sleeping bag. And all of the sleeping bags were empty. "Guys!" Zane shoved his shoes on as he tumbled head first out of the tent, frantically calling for his friends. "Kai! Nya! Cole! Jay! Lloyd! Where are you!?"

~Meanwhile with Sensei~

Sensei paced frantically around the Flouting Ruins, his mind spinning. They weren't here. Why weren't they here!? A loud ringing filled the air as his phone went off. Yanking it out of his pocket, he barely glanced at it before hitting answer. "They're not at the Floating Ruins! I need to get to the Fire Temple ASAP!" Silence fell as he listened to the voice on the other side of the call. "Yes, the guardian and weapon that I hid here are gone too. I'm sure if I move quickly enough then I can catch them at the Fire Temple. I'll see you later. Bye." He hung up his phone, before turning and starting the long trek to the Fire Temple.

~Back with the Others~

Kai stared at the chest in front of him, before looking over to the others. Flames had already shrunk down to the size of his palm, and they were outside of the Temple, puzzled over why there was another chest there.

Nya shrugged, before nudging her brother gently. "Might as well as open it. Maybe it is an instruction manual for you guys."

"Ok." Kai opened the chest. Reaching in, he pulled out…another flashlight?

Jay blinked, before narrowing his eyes. "Is that another map? I thought that there was only four golden weapons of the First Spinjitzu Master?"

"Soo, who wants to wake Zane up and ask about the new map?" Kai asked casually before all five took off running back to the campsite…

 **A/N: Done! What's this? The treasure hunt is not over with? And Zane missed out on all the fun! Of course how did he, who is the lightest sleeper out of all them, managed to sleep through all of that when Jay, who is the heaviest sleeper, didn't is a mystery that shall never be solved.**

 **For anyone that said that Sensei is talking to Misako on the phone, the answer is yes! It is Misako! Now, what do you think the new map will lead to?**

 **Review!**

 **SkyTalon**


	13. More Weapons to FindNya's Turn

More Weapons to Find… Nya's Turn:

Zane wasn't sure what to think when he crashed into Kai suddenly. Kai appeared to be bouncing out of excitement, and very quickly shoved a new old flashlight in his face. "Look! We found the Sword of Fire and this was with it! We think it might be another map!"

Zane blinked slowly, before rubbing the bridge of his nose. "And you couldn't wait for morning because…?"

"We wanted to find the sword of fire!" The rest of the missing children appeared behind Kai.

"Wonderful." Zane muttered under his breath, before taking the flashlight from him. "See that symbol there? That is the ancient symbol for water. And now if we turn it back on… and shine it on the parchment we've been using for the map…" Zane swiftly spread out the parchment, before turning the light on to shine on it. Immediately, the map of Ninjago spread out for all to see….only this time it showed them a specific old rundown dock at Stiix.

Nya peered curiously at the map, interest dancing in her eyes. "Cool. Looks like we have to go to that town you always tell us not to go anywhere near cause of the questionable people that live there."

Zane groaned as he wondered when his life ever made since….

~Couple Days Later~

"Do not look any one in the eye. And I mean that Kai." Zane kept a firm hand on Lloyd, his heart queasy at the sight of all of the hardened citizens of Stiix. His goal in life was to stay away from the seaside village at all costs, especially with the younger ones under his care. Who knew that following a map would lead them here?

Nya froze, her eyes darting to the water below the dock they were hovering around. "I can hear singing… its coming from below…."

"Nya! Don't! Wait for night. We can't take any chances here!" Zane hissed at her as he reached out and grabbed her before she could wander off by herself.

"Sorry Zane." Nya mumbled as she shrank back into him.

Zane tensed up as he watched a local walk past them. Cole glanced over at the local, before muttering to Zane softly. "Zane? Since we can't exactly trust anyone here doesn't that mean no one will care if we disappear under the dock for a bit? Besides that…I don't like how that guy was looking at Rocky." Cole reached up and gently touched the dragon on his shoulder.

All of them had dragons, minus Nya and Lloyd now. Rocky, Wisp, Shard, and Flames (Who is the newest member of their group) were perched on their respective master's shoulders, eyeing anyone that came even close to the group. Zane considered what he had said, and looked back to Nya…who was already gone.

Zane groaned as he ushered the others farther out on the dock. "One of these times _all_ of us are going to run off like that. For now, let's just wait for her to show up."

….

Nya shivered as the coldwater from the sea lapped around her ankles. Underneath the dock was a sea cave, which was where the singing was coming from. Ignoring the way the water splashed around as she moved, she looked around the cave trying to locate the singing. Eventually, she spotted a large, ocean blue dragon curled near a stand that had what appeared to be a gold handheld fan sitting upon it. Moving closer, Nya realized that the singing was coming from the fan. Amazed, she reached out to touch it…the dragon snapped awake suddenly, rearing to its feet as it, no she, glared at her.

Nya swallowed hard as she took an instinctive step back. "Sorry…I didn't mean to disturb you. It's just that…the fan is singing." She wondered why she had mentioned that to the dragon. Surely it wouldn't care about that?

With a disbelieving snort, she leaned forward and sniffed the young girl, before nudging her closer to the fan. "I'm gonna take that as its ok for me to touch it." She reached out and touched the fan. Instantly, blinding light flooding the cave.

She blinked rapidly, before looking at where a small chest was in place of the fan. The water dragon had shrunk down to the size of her palm and was sitting on top of it, head cocked to the side. "Nice… I'm going to call you Brooke. Come on, the others are probably waiting for us." She picked up the chest and followed the path out of the cave that she followed to get in there in the first place.

~Back with Sensei~

Sensei rubbed his forehead as he pulled out his cell, dialing in a number quickly. "Misako? We have a problem. I'm going to the hidden sea cave to check to see if they've found the Golden Fan of Water." A pause as he listened to his sister-in-law. "Yes… I know that the last two are not really well known weapons and everyone only ever talks about the four…but I hide all six! The next one is the Golden Fan of Water. I have to go and catch up with them. Since Stiix is technically in the way, I should be able to catch up with them without any problems this time. Good bye Misako." He hung up the phone and left to traverse the two week journey on foot. Of course if they flew there like he suspected then they only took two days to get there.

~Back with the Others~

Zane placed a bowl of hearty beef stew in front of Nya, who was still rambling on about how the map led her to a gold fan. "Eat your soup Nya. It's good for you."

"Yes Zane." Nya picked her spoon up and scooped up a large bite. "But that is soo cool! And I bet this one is going to lead Lloyd to something neat too!"

Zane glanced at the newest map that they, well technically Nya, had found. The symbol on it was for energy and the map showed that it lead to the one place that no one went into. Hiroshi's Labryinth.

Oh well. They have dragons now. No way they're going to get lost….

 **A/N: Done! Hmm, yeah I decided that this is just going to be a series instead of one book. We're getting close to the end of this one… I'm thinking calling the next book What Really Happened in Ninjago the First Year. Should be very interesting.**

 **Review!**

 **SkyTalon**


	14. Following Lloyd is a fast way to getLOST

Following Lloyd through a Maze is a great way to get _**LOST**_ :

Zane dodged yet another plant that appeared to be interested in tripping him. Kai had somehow turned their escapade into some sort of game, scrambling over tree roots and yelling at the top of his lungs. Cole was keeping up easily with him while Jay and Nya struggled to keep up. Lloyd was leading the way, distracted by something that only he could hear.

"Lloyd…how much longer?" Nya whined as she plopped down onto a tree root.

Lloyd paused, tilting his head to the side. "We're getting closer… I think. Are we getting closer if the music is getting louder?"

"Yes!" Zane winced as he wondered when did they all start talking in unison….

"Oh…in that case we're here!" Lloyd pulled back a low hanging branch to reveal a four headed white dragon blinking as it stared at them. Each head had decorational scales covering them, and each head appeared to have a different color scheme. One head was an electric blue, another one had silver lines that were just a shade darker than the white scales on the rest of the head. Another had brown scales and the last head had bright red scales.

Behind the dragon was the most interesting golden weapon yet. A frown crossed Zane as he stared at it. "What is that?"

The weapon appeared to be a mash up of multiple elements in one weapon. The top half of the weapon was clearly for decorative purposes. The left side of the top appeared like flames and turned into ice when it reached the top. It then continued and turned into lightning on the right side of the weapon. What appeared to be earth was in the center. The handle was long, and had several curves in it for a better grip. A spear shaped point was at the bottom, though it was hard to see, seeing as it was half buried into a stand just like the others where.

"Cool!" Lloyd walked over and touched the weapon. Instantly it disappeared in a blinding light. The four headed dragon snorted as he sniffed Lloyd curiously, before turning its attention to the other dragons, shrinking down to the size of Lloyd's palm.

"Come on. We better head back to civilization now." Zane turned to leave.

"Ok!"

…

Zane knew that something was wrong…but he wasn't sure he should say anything since doing so might send the children into a panic. But they've been walking to _leave_ the infamous labyrinth far longer than they had to find the weapon in the middle of it.

Kai fell back to walk beside him, his feet dragging. "Zane? Are we lost?"

Nya whipped around, panic flaring in her eyes. "We're lost?! No!" She crumbled to the ground in tears, along with a terrified Lloyd.

Jay went into panic mode, hyperventilating over the whole lost thing, while Cole was trying to calm him down while panicking himself. Zane shot Kai a see what you did look, before turning to face the others. "We appear to be lost…however we do have dragons with us. We can all just fly on out of here…"

"No we can't." Lloyd interjected, confusion crossing his face.

Zane blinked, before shaking his head at Lloyd. "We have six dragons…I am pretty sure that we can fly out of here."

"Weren't you paying attention? They flew off a few hours ago. It's just us." Lloyd pointed out the lack of dragons around them.

To say the least, Zane wasn't impressed with him at the moment.

~Back with Sensei~

Sensei found himself taking in deep breaths as he stared at the empty sea cave. For safety reasons he had turned his phone off and placed it deep in his one pocket and was ignoring the urge to call his sister-in-law. He didn't exactly trust the citizens of Stiix not to rob him if he pulled out his phone. Besides that, there was no coverage down here in the sea cave.

Shaking his head, he turned around to leave…and immediately groaned upon seeing that all six dragons were hovering there, heads titled to the side. And yes, it was all nine heads. "You six are supposed to be with your Masters."

Low throated roars were his response as they flocked around him, eagerly nudging him forward. This was going to be fun…

~Back with the others~

Zane fumbled slightly as he set up the tent, aware of the various night life that lived in the labyrinth…potentially dangerous wildlife in the dreaded forest.

"Zane?"

"Not now Kai."

"Zane?"

"Not now Nya."

"Zane?"

"Not now Cole."

"Zane?"

"Not now Jay."

"Zane!? The pot is boiling over!" Lloyd yelled, drawing the older boy's attention.

Sure enough, the pot of noodles he had placed on the portable stove _was_ boiling over. Leaping to his feet, he turned the temperature down and began the process of taking back control of the pot. Finally, he drained the water and stirred the sauce that was simmering in a pan into the noodles. "Dinner is ready!"

"Sweet…" "Yum!" "You're gonna pay more attention next time to the pot, right?"

Zane shot Lloyd a glare at that remark, before setting to the task of dishing up the noodles.

 **A/N: Done! A little on the short side…but this is where I wanted to end it. Next chapter is a Sensei finally catches up with them…and they start 'boarding school'. And the dragons come back. They just went to get Sensei since they had presumed that he would be with their new masters when they arrived and he wasn't and they just realized that they haven't seen him in a while.**

 **Review!**

 **SkyTalon**

 **P.S. In case you haven't seen it, I have a new story called Ray and Maya…basically a happily ever after Romeo and Juliet AU.**


	15. Sensei Wu to the Rescue!

Sensei Wu to the Rescue!

Zane nibbled on his bottom lip as he looked over the map. He had hoped that if he had combined all six flashlights together it would show him the way out. All it did was show that he really had no idea what he was doing. It has now been four days and they were running low of food, having expected to be out of the labyrinth by now. Zane turned the flashlights off, frustration flooding him.

"Zane? Are we never going to leave this place?" Lloyd fearfully asked the teen, worry dancing in his eyes.

Zane sighed as he turned to face the others. "I …am not sure. I am working on it young Lloyd."

Lloyd nodded, before heading back to the others. Zane frowned as he noticed not for the first time that of the younger ones were playing or goofing off. Being lost in the labyrinth really had them worried. Kai had wrapped his arms around his sister, gaze on the ground as he nibbled his bottom lip. Jay was unusually quiet, dragging a stick through the ground. Cole was hugging his knees to his chest, clearly bothered about the whole lost in the middle of Hiroshi's Labyrinth issue they were correctly facing.

Stifling another sigh, he seems to be doing that a lot recently; he rummaged through their food supply until he found six granola bars and bags of peanuts. "Come on, it's time for lunch."

All eyes landed on the meager lunch he was offering to them, before with an extra loud sigh, Kai stood up and walked over to accept his portion. "Come on. It's better than starving to death."

Zane winced at that, knowing very well that if they don't get help soon, they will be starving. Well, the younger ones would be starving. He could survive without food longer than them. The other children walked over and collected the meager meal, slowly nibbling through it….as if that would make it last longer. Zane glanced down at his granola bar and bag of peanuts, before quietly slipping them back into the pack. He didn't need to eat with the way his body worked. He could miss a few meals.

He was trying to figure out how many meals he could miss before the others noticed and started insisting that he eat, when the bush in front of him suddenly shook… right before Sensei Wu stepped out of it, with the dragons.

"You all need help here?"

"Uncle Wu!" Lloyd appeared to have forgotten the fact that he had turned them away as he ran over and tackled him in a hug.

Sensei Wu blinked; startled about that, before wrapping his arms around the small child as he hugged him back. "Think you can forgive me for being an old fool nephew?" Lloyd mumbled something into his shoulder, though no one could hear what he said. "Can you repeat that?"

"I'll forgive you only cause you came right on time…we're almost out of food." Lloyd staged whispered the last part, his eyes widening in horror.

Zane rolled his eyes, before looking over at their savior. "Thank you for coming to look for us."

"Yes…well, it was my mistake for sending you all away. Now then…what are you all doing wandering about the place in the middle of the school year?! Shouldn't you all be in school?" Sensei Wu looked disapprovingly at each of the children.

Kai rolled his eyes as he pointed to Zane. "Zane home schools us…or is it tent school if we live in a tent?"

Zane could feel embarrassment flood him, a blush flushing his face. "That is not what he meant by that… um…. Yeah. Kai, Nya and I are orphans and Cole is a runaway that we've been keeping an eye on…and Jay's parents know he's with us."

"I see…you know what nephew? I just realized that I do not know your friends names…" Sensei Wu trailed off, prompting the young boy into action.

"This is Zane! He knows a lot about everything…and over there is Kai and Nya, their siblings….and that one is Jay and over here is Cole!" Lloyd bounced as he walked around the camp, introducing his uncle to each of his friends.

Sensei Wu looked over them all, before speaking up. "You know…I do have a permit to use the monastery as a boarding school… I just never could find the students who needed my help the most. Chasing after you six, and seeing the kinds of things you can all do…makes me wonder if I should make you my first students?"

"Will there be food?" Someone asked, Zane wasn't too sure who though.

"Unless there is a fire, there will be plenty of food all the time." Sensei Wu calmly answered the question.

"In that case…Yes!" Kai, Nya, Cole, Lloyd, and Jay punched the air in unison.

Zane smiled, glad that for once he could just be the sixteen year old friend. A frown crossed his face as he realized that couldn't be right. He was sixteen when he first met Kai and Nya all those years ago… he pushed this line of thought out of his mind, just glad to be found, and safe.

~Two Weeks Later, With Ed and Edna~

Ed waved goodbye to the mailman as he shuffled through the mail, trying to gauge what was junk and what wasn't. Surprise flashed through him as he stumbled upon one where the return address was labeled as the monastery on top of the Mountain of a Thousand Steps. Oh! And it was from Jay.

"Edna! We got a letter from our little Jayjay!" Ed called out as he walked over to where she was setting out some sandwiches for their lunch.

Edna clapped her hands together, a warm smile crossing her face. "Oh goody! What is he up to this time with his friends?" Ed shrugged, before handing her the letter. She eagerly tore it open, pulling the letter out. After scanning the contents, absorbing the words that he had written, a frown crossed her face. "Strange…Jay says that they are attending a new boarding school that is fairly small. He so far, loves his classes and knows that he doesn't have to deal with bullying unless it is his friends teasing him and he knows that they are teasing." She frowned, wondering what that would mean for her baby boy to be in a school setting again.

"He seems to like this new school. Maybe we should just wait and see if he, you know, changes his mind about it." Ed encouraged her as he took the letter back to read it himself. Edna slowly nodded, taking in a deep breath as she tried to calm herself down. "Hey look! Says here that they go on field trips a lot and will be leaving on their first one tomorrow. Doesn't say where too though…"

 **A/N: Done! This is literally the last chapter for What Really Happened in Ninjago Origins. Please keep your eyes peeled for What Really Happened in Ninjago The First Year! It will be coming out soon enough… once I get to it. Patience is key here.**

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 **SkyTalon**


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